Show us your.......beads!

We saw a documentary about Mardi Gras beads the other night on television, it focused on the young women and men in China who work long hours in factories for low pay to make these baubles. Many of them are young women and girls sent to work in the factories to help support their families, living in factory dormitories and have very restricted lives.

They were quite amused and a bit shocked at the drunken antics of the revelers in New Orleans. Flashing bare breasts or genitals in exchange for "ugly" beads seemed quite strange to these young women. It was not a flattering picture of America. The film's producers also showed people at Mardi Gras some of the footage of the girls at work in the factories, and many felt quite ashamed at what the beads now symbolized to them. Now, if they just remembered that when they sobered up. After watching most of the documentary Kim said "We've got to get Miaya NOW, she can't grow up to that kind of life".

What's brown and looks like an envelope?

Ok, it's a Brown Envelope, guess that was too easy! We got our "Brown Envelope" last week, it is originated by the American Consulate in Guangzhou, China and confirms that our information has ben transferred there from our local Citizenship and Immigration Service office. It also includes a packet of forms to be completed when we are in China to be united with Miaya. In and of itself, it means nothing, as the forms can be acquired in China, and many families never get the packet. However, it is another sign that the process is progressing, another milestone to mark off the list.